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Forget that Watergate-era advice about following the money.
In the comedy "The Proposal," you can chart the change of heart by the hair. When Sandra Bullock lets her guard down, she does the same with her hair, swapping a high, tightly pulled ponytail for a loose, softer style that lets her locks fall past her shoulders.
Bullock plays Margaret, a New York book editor who strikes terror in her staff, particularly her assistant, Andrew (Ryan Reynolds). To alert his co-workers that she's about to hightail it through the office, Andrew sends an instant message: "The witch is on her broom."
When Margaret, a Canadian by birth, learns she could be deported, she pretends to be engaged to Andrew, who is horrified but turns the deal to his advantage. To make the ruse seem real, the pair head for his grandmother's 90th birthday party and a chance to meet the parents ... and everyone else in Andrew's quaint hometown of Sitka, Alaska.
- Starring: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds.
- Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, nudity and language.
- Web site: www.myspace.com/proposalmovie
But they have to weigh the risks and rewards of perpetuating or stopping the sham and dealing with the consequences and very real penalties.
At first, "The Proposal" sounds a bit like 1991's "Green Card" featuring Gerard Depardieu as a Frenchman who can stay in New York only if he gets a green card and Andie MacDowell as the stranger willing to wed to acquire her dream apartment.
This has much more bite, thanks to a supporting cast that includes scene-stealer Betty White as Andrew's saucy but savvy grandmother, Gammy Annie; Craig T. Nelson as his distant dad; Mary Steenburgen as his soft-hearted mother; Malin Akerman as Andrew's one-time girlfriend; Oscar Nunez ("The Office") as an exotic dancer; and Denis O'Hare as an immigration officer.
Anne Fletcher, a choreographer who moved into directing with "Step Up" and then earned chick-flick cred with "27 Dresses," directs a screenplay by Peter Chiarelli, an executive producer of "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" (although we won't hold that against him).
"The Proposal" is largely set in Alaska, played vibrantly and convincingly by Massachusetts, at least to someone who's never been to The Last Frontier. Bullock, who has been paired with the likes of Hugh Grant, Harry Connick Jr. and Ben Affleck, has good, crackling chemistry with Reynolds, who shows off his Deadpool physique from "X-Men" and graduates to leading man territory.
So why not a full-fledged endorsement? Not enough underpinnings are provided to support the conclusion; it seems to be missing one or two more scenes that would have done the trick for me to buy the outcome.
Bullock, Reynolds and a first-rate supporting cast make this more enjoyable than you might suspect, just not as fully satisfying as I had hoped.
